


Me, You and The Stars

by kazumaasougi



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 18:36:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14478738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kazumaasougi/pseuds/kazumaasougi
Summary: "As soon they locked eyes, Maki found that he had the saddest eyes she had ever seen in a person besides herself. Sharply sad, but an old sadness. The one that was buried deep."What happens when two characters who never interact and seemingly have nothing in common find themselves alone under the moonlight? Takes place in a Hope's Peak Academy/Talent Development Plan AU where Maki and Amami attend the same class.





	Me, You and The Stars

**Author's Note:**

> my first fic ever! i hope it's good enough. ♡

An exhausted sigh escaped Maki’s lips, her face covered in cold sweat. Placing a trembling hand to her forehead, she closed her eyes as she muttered frantic words to herself over and over. “It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a dream.” She could feel tears rolling down her cheek once again, trying her hardest to push away the recurring visions that would haunt her nearly every single night. Almost out of instinct, Maki began to clean her hands, as if they were stained with blood, the blood of her victims, the blood of those whose life she had taken so freely, so unfairly. She got up from her bed and ran towards the bathroom in her dorm, washing her hands in an almost desperate frenzy.

It proved to be futile, as Maki knew the stains of her chrome drenched sins could not be cleansed with a little water. They were burned into her soul for all eternity, and she doubt she would ever receive respite. She doubted she even wanted to in the first place. She was nothing but a mere machine who had been robbed of her humanity. To be called a person, to be put in the same category as her classmates, she thought, was unjust. All the guilt, all the nightmares, all the hours spent crying over corpses whose names she never even knew were just part of the job of an assassin. It was something Maki had come to terms with long ago. Her body had already gotten used to the strain of her profession, but her mind was far from becoming accustomed. She doubted it ever would.

Maki ultimately lost her will to continue washing her skin, the reality of her turmoil finally dawning on her. It was pointless to go against the flow. it was pointless to consider it, let alone fight against it. Resignation. She had always detested that word, but she would repeat it in her mind over and over whenever she found herself looking for salvation at the bottom of a glass. The raw reality of her everyday life felt heavy and daunting as a rope around her neck. There was a purpose in what she did however, though one she often found herself forgetting about.

There was no point in staying confined in her room, Maki thought. She doubted she would be able to go back to sleep anyway. Swiftly putting on her uniform, she made her way to the courtyard of the academy, the dusk of the night still falling heavy in the sky. She didn’t mind it—the dark had always brought comfort to her. It was perhaps the only time where she could be entirely by herself, in some kind of somber peace she found eerily soothing. In the rare moments of silence between her and the world, Maki would indulge in some of the sweetest memories of her childhood, the simplicity and purity of her life at the orphanage, and her lips would curve into the faintest of smiles, a smile reserved only for the memories of those she was fighting for.

Although much to Maki’s surprise—and disdain—she quickly noticed the presence of someone else in her usual spot as she made her to way to the top of a small hill far in the outskirts of the courtyard. It didn’t take her long to recognize the figure as one belonging to Amami Rantarou, one of her classmates. Before she could react however, Amami turned his head to meet her, surprise evident in his features as well. Though as soon as they locked eyes with each other, she found that he had the saddest eyes she had ever seen on a person—besides herself. Sharply sad, but an old sadness. The kind that was buried deep. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes, tension thick in the air between the two. She wasn’t afraid, exactly, but she was taken aback. She had never really been particularly close with him, but she always found him to be disingenuous with the way he blatantly shut himself from others with a smile on his face. Not that she had any right to judge anyway.

“Good evening, Maki.” Amami smiled, and she could easily tell it was the half hearted smile he would often flash at their classmates, one meant to keep them away. It was a smile she was all too familiar with, having seen it plenty of times in her lifetime.

“Amami…Hello.” The sentence came out a little softer than she had actually intended, though Maki didn’t pause to wonder why.

“How funny…I didn’t expect our first conversation to be in the middle of the night. People might take it the wrong way, y'know.” His tone was playful, slightly teasing, as if to to gauge her reaction. It annoyed her, because she could tell he was merely trying to distract her from the melancholy in his expression. Not that she really cared anyway…

“…What are you doing here?” Maki asked, hardening her tone as if to unconsciously prevent herself from going along with his banter. “I don’t usually see you around here.”

“Always straight to the point, heh.” He chuckled. “Do I need a reason to be here, though?” The tone of his voice changed ever so slightly, but it was noticeable enough that Maki knew he didn’t want her to delve in any deeper than the surface he was comforting with showing.

“You don’t. You do what you want. I was just asking.” Her gaze shifted a bit awkwardly, her hands subconsciously picking at the strands of hair from one of her pigtails. Amami gave her a nod before sitting on the grassy hill, fixating his attention on the stars and moon above them. Silence befell them once again as Maki allowed her gaze to linger on the man before her, and it was only then she realized just how gentle he looked under the moonlight. His eyes were soft yet tired, almost inviting if it weren’t for their clinical sharpness, she noted. His many piercings gave him personality, a certain uniqueness to him. It was difficult not to appreciate his appearance, she thought, but his striking features were the kind one would struggle to forget.

Amami didn’t seem to mind her penetrating gaze in the slightest, if he was even aware she was looking at him so intently. He appeared to be lost in the beauty of the sky, as if the whole world around him had never mattered. For a second she felt envious of him.

“I take it you come here often in that case?” His voice, crisp and deep, broke Maki of her own train of thought, and she felt more than a little foolish for losing herself so easily in someone who was essentially a complete stranger to her.

“Yes…I come here when I can’t sleep.” Her words were curt and cold, and the expression in her face hid all signs of exhaustion.

“I see.” It was all Amami decided to give away for now, his green eyes meeting hers. She could tell he was considering his next choice of words carefully before responding, perhaps in an attempt to avoid making the situation uncomfortable. “I couldn’t either. Haven’t been able to sleep in days.” It was a sentence that sounded as though it should have been accompanied with a stern look, but instead he merely smiled.

Maki couldn’t help but regard him curiously, yet hesitantly—there was something almost vulnerable in the set of this man’s shoulders, no matter his attempts to convince the world otherwise. A faint desire to unravel his secrets tugged at the back of Maki’s mind, but she quickly dismissed that thought—some secrets were better off as just that, secrets. She herself was the perfect example of it. Besides, Maki had no business with him. She was nothing but a machine whose only purpose in life was to kill, and any budding desire to form friendships had to be dealt with quickly and effectively. It was something she had come to remind herself too many times for her own personal comfort.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Was all she could muster to offer him, before an engulfing and tense silence settled in once again between the two.

“Right. You probably came here to be in peace, and here I am, wasting your time.” Amami’s stare lingered, the curve of his lips unfaltering. “I apologize, I’ll let you be.” He began to lift his body from the ground, his eyes never leaving her—but Maki was quick to stop him, almost too quick, she noted.

“No…it’s okay.” She brushed one short strand of hair behind her ear, trying her best to avoid the green of his eyes. “You were here first. I’ll just find somewhere else.”

“…Then maybe we could just both sit here in peace. We don’t have to talk, if that’s what you want.” His words were a bit quiet, timid even, perhaps in fear of her reaction.

Maki’s eyes widened at his sudden request, not expecting him to seek out her company. She felt herself flush, something warm uncoiling at the pit of her stomach—suddenly, she was hyperaware of both her own movements and the way in which Amami was looking at her. She spent a moment’s silence regaining herself from within before saying anything more. She normally scoffed at invitations thrown her away, but she was finding incredibly difficult to remain composed when it was just the two of them, together, under the moonlight. She wasn’t accustomed to this.

Besides, would it truly kill her if she allowed herself some company? She knew she didn’t deserve it, but perhaps his company would distract her from the horrors of her nightmares, even if just for a few hours.

“…Alright. But don’t complain if I don’t pay you any attention.” She snickered, hoping her bite would distract Amami from noticing the pink in her cheeks.

“None taken. I’m not one to beg for such things either way. I think there’s a certain kind of beauty in being able to find comfort in silence.” He shifted his body slightly to make room for her, and she settled herself into a comfortable position while still maintaining a level of distance from him.

“I’m the same. I don’t really like talking…It’s uncomfortable for me.”

“And why’s that?”

“What?”

“I just want to know why you keep to yourself so much. I think this is the first time we’ve really spoken to each other.”

“I…” She wasn’t sure how to reply. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to reply—why did he want to know, anyway? “I just don’t really like people, is all.” A curt answer she hoped would suffice to shut up the man beside her. “It’s not like you’re around a lot, either.”

“Hah…I suppose you’ve got a point. I don’t blame you though. The world can be a cruel place sometimes.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it though…It is what it is.” Her words were spoken more as if they were facts, rather than her own personal opinion. She’d become so jaded that idealism was nothing more than a distant lie she used to cling to before witnessing and perpetuating the many horrors the world.

“You sound resigned… We may not be able to change the world completely, but little actions here and there might be able to change someone else’s world. It’s just a matter of perspective.” Despite his cool tone, his eyes grew softer, less narrow, a glint of empathy shining through. “Perhaps one day you can change your own world.”

Maki didn’t mean for the bitter laughter to escape her lips—the very prospect of being able to change her world was a joke to her—an impossible, cruel joke that would sink into her heart like a set of teeth, ready to eat her alive. “It’s not as simple as you make it out to be.” Her words were harsh, and she made no attempt to disguise the irritable bite in her voice. “Some people…do not deserve that luxury.”

“That is true. ” He responded. “But what is it that makes a person undeserving of a second chance? Morality is far too complex to be so easily defined. Good or bad…I think it isn’t as black and white as we make it out to be. People are quick to categorize others as villains and heroes, but such are the things of fairytales.”

For the first time, Maki’s silence was involuntary. A tight, suffocating sensation settled at the back of her throat. She couldn’t deny the truth in Amami’s words, but it felt so out of reach to her. To her though, accepting her role as the bloodlust, cruel villain of the story was far easier than attempting to protect whatever humanity she had left. But she couldn’t deny how desperately she wanted someone to see those leftovers, to treat her as a person with emotions, with a story, with a heart, and not as a the coldblooded killer she had been forced to be.

“What would you be though? A villain or a hero?” She asked quietly.

He chuckled, though Maki noticed a faint glint of sorrow dancing in his voice. “I’d say I’m a hero to some, but a villain to others. One person’s wrongdoing is someone else’s blessing.”

“I think it’s ‘a person’s misfortune’s is another person’s gain’.” Maki retorted, though she couldn’t help the subtle tug at the corner of her lips.

“Ahaha, maybe. I was just trying to to make it fit the situation.” He sheepishly scratched the back of his head, though he definitely took notice of Maki’s little smile.

“Geez…Idiot.” She shook her head lightly, and the warm sensation at the pit of her stomach returned.

Amami laughed and gave Maki a weak shrug. “You don’t have to put it that way, y'know.” His reply was light and easy, and he turned his attention to the sky. “Do you like stargazing, Maki?”

Mimicking him, Maki redirected her focus to the stars shining brightly above them. “I guess. I don’t know much about them…but they’re pretty.”

“Mhm. Don’t you think it’s comforting that no matter where you go, the stars will always be watching over you?” He continued, losing himself once again in the vastness of the sky. “And it’s sweet to think that maybe someone important to you is looking at them too in this exact moment.” His eyes softened again with the same kind of mysterious, well guarded gentleness, and Maki felt drawn to them, like a moth to a flame.

“God, you sound like Kaito now.” Whether or not that was a good thing was left to Amami’s own interpretation.

“Heh, I don’t think I’m that much of a fanatic, but I have learned quite a few things from him. You see—“ He closed the distance between them ever so slightly, and Maki’s heart skipped at their proximity, her face flushing a very intense shade of red that was visible even in the dark. Amami lifted his arm to point at a constellation of stars, too immersed in his own fascination to notice the embarrassment etched across Maki’s face. “—Those over there? That’s the Ursa Major. It’s only visible in the northern sky. If you look closely, you can see that it resembles a bear. And next to it is the Ursa Minor, her baby. Cool, ain’t it?” 

“Hey.” Maki growled, her voice eerily low, fixing Amami with a glare so intense it would have put the fear of God in anyone unaccustomed to her behavior. “Do you want to die?”

“Huh—“ It took a few seconds for Amami to register the situation, though her expression didn't faze him in the slightest. He quickly distanced himself from her. “Oh. Sorry. ” 

Maki pursed her lips together and forced herself to redirect her attention to where Amami was pointing, hoping the flush in her cheeks had disappeared by then. “I…I’m not sure if I can see it. They all look the same to me.”

“If you look closer you can. You actually can see many other constellations in the sky, it’s just a matter of paying attention.”

It took Maki a couple of minutes of squinting to finally make out the shape. Once she did though, her eyes didn’t leave the constellation, and without realizing she had began counting all the stars she could find within it. “Ah…I think I see it now. How lovely.” It was perhaps the first time throughout their whole conversation that Maki smiled—more than just a mere tug of the lips. It was timid, a bit hesitant, but it was there. “Thank you, Amami.”

And now was his turn to admire just how gentle she looked under the moonlight.


End file.
